


Candles in the Wind

by geekogecko (Jedijae)



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Angst, Drama & Romance, Family Drama, Gen, Multi, hints of polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 11:15:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17661518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jedijae/pseuds/geekogecko
Summary: This story is a prequel to The Once and Future Queen, a spin-off based on a few paragraphs of key journal entries in the later chapters of that fic.  I've been struggling with it for almost a year, and thought that maybe if I started posting, it will kick my butt into gear.  Pretty much everything about it, including the title, is a WIP, and it is very likely that I will make major revisions as I go.This is entirely the fault of one of my readers. stillslightlynerdy, who saw in those journal entries something I'd never considered. And now here we are...





	Candles in the Wind

 

“Your Majesty, Master Kristoff…we’ve done all we can for now.”

Elsa pressed her lips to Anna’s hand and lifted her head to look at Doctor Lindahl, the Royal Physician.  He rose from his seat at the end of the birthing bed, rearranging the linens to cover Anna’s lower body. His expression held neither hope nor sorrow.

“I’ve stopped the bleeding, but I don’t know if she’s lost too much to recover.  We’ll just have to wait and see…”

Elsa nodded, swallowing around the ache in her throat as she fought back tears.  She reached out and brushed some stray hairs back from Anna’s forehead.  Her sister’s red hair and freckles stood out even more starkly than usual, her normally ruddy cheeks deathly pale.  Her chest rose and fell in a slow but steady rhythm, and for a moment, Elsa could almost convince herself that Anna was simply sleeping.

Except that Anna was never this still, even when in the deepest slumber.

Elsa looked over at Kristoff, who paced by the window, his son cradled in his arms.  He seemed to pay no heed to the physician’s words, his gaze locked on the tiny bundle he held.  Elsa thought she heard Kristoff gently crooning, a nonsense song sung to a child who would never hear it.

The baby had come early.  Too early.  His tiny lungs underdeveloped, he had not drawn even a single breath after the midwife guided him from Anna’s womb.  But as small as he was, his delivery had still taken an awful toll on his mother. 

Elsa had never seen so much blood.

Britta, the midwife, approached Kristoff.  “Sir,” she said gently, holding out her hands, “if I may…?” 

Kristoff just stared at her blankly.  Britta tried to take the baby from him, but he shook his head and turned away, cradling the blanketed bundle tighter.  Even in the dim lamplight, Elsa saw Kristoff’s throat bob, could see his body stiffen.

Elsa kissed Anna’s forehead, then rose and went over to her brother-in-law.   “Kristoff,” she said softly, holding out her arms.  He met her gaze, his brown eyes glittering with unshed tears.  After a brief hesitation, he placed the baby in her arms.

Elsa moved the blanket aside to look at her stillborn nephew.  His tiny face was serene beneath a thatch of strawberry-blond hair.  Now her tears did well up, one escaping her lashes to fall onto the baby’s cheek. 

 _Oh, little one, I’m so sorry_.

“Your Majesty, please, let Britta have the baby.  She will see to his…preparations,” Doctor Lindahl said.  “You and Master Kristoff should get some rest.  Someone will be with Princess Anna all night.  We will let you know if she wakes up, or if anything changes.”

Elsa nodded, deliberately not thinking about what “anything” might be.  She closed her eyes, summoning a bit of her magic, and passed her hand over the baby’s body.  A faint blue glow pulsed around him, just for a second.  _There_.  Now he could lie on his little bier without Nature taking her toll, and his mother would get to see him at least once if she woke.

 _When_ , Elsa told herself fiercely, _Not if._ When _his mother wakes up_.

She gently pulled the blanket back across the baby’s face and handed him to Britta, who dropped a brief curtsy before leaving with the doctor.  Elsa took Kristoff’s arm and steered him toward the door as well.

“You should rest, Kristoff,” she said. “I’ll stay with her.”

He shook his head.  “I’m not leaving.  If there’s any chance she’ll wake up, I want to be here.”  He pulled away from her and sat in the chair he had occupied earlier, where he had stayed during the whole awful labor, holding Anna’s hand, absorbing her curses and stroking her hair.  Elsa moved her chair around the bed to sit next to him.  Kristoff propped his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands.

“It’s my fault,” he said finally, his voice quiet.  “After Jørgen, the doctor said we shouldn’t try to have any more, but…”

Prince Jørgen, Kristoff and Anna’s first – _only_ , Elsa reminded herself – child, was a healthy, active two-year-old who was the delight of everyone in the Castle.  But he had been a big baby, too big, really, for Anna’s slender frame.  His birth had been long and difficult, and both Doctor Lindahl and Britta had advised against any more pregnancies.  Anna, who dreamed of a large family, had been bitterly disappointed.

Elsa had been surprised – and more than a little worried - when Anna had announced that she was pregnant again.  _I shouldn’t have been surprised_ , she thought.  _Neither Kristoff nor I have ever been adept at resisting Anna’s…passions._

“It’s not your fault, Kristoff.  If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.  What happened on the fjord…”    _When I killed my little sister.._.  “…there’s no way that didn’t affect her body, her health…”  Elsa’s voice cracked a little as she tried to push back the ice that rose up in her chest. 

Kristoff’s large hand wrapped around hers, tightening against her still-instinctive urge to shy away, even from those she loved, that seized her when her magic was churning inside her.  He tugged her closer, his arm coming around her shoulders.  Elsa leaned against him, and he kissed the top of her head. 

“I’m not going to let you blame yourself for this, Elsa,” he murmured against her hair.  “I’m the one who…I couldn’t…but I guess neither one of us has ever really been able to resist her, have we?”  A sound escaped him, one that seemed caught between a soft chuckle and a choked sob.  He shuddered a little and Elsa wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.

“No, we haven’t.”  _Though I’m not sure how hard we really tried._   Elsa laced her fingers with his, and they waited together, watching over the person who was the center of their world.

 

*******

 

Elsa jerked awake from her fitful doze to find the Royal Physician standing over her with an indignant scowl on his face.  “Your Majesty, the nurses informed me that you and Prince Kristoff both stayed here all night, after I advised you to get some rest.”

  Elsa lifted her head from where it rested on Anna’s bed and rubbed her face.  A quick glance at Anna confirmed that nothing had changed.  Her sister still lay unconscious, the first rays of dawn highlighting her too-pale face.  “We couldn’t leave her,” she said, her throat tightening as she brushed coppery bangs back from Anna’s forehead.

Doctor Lindahl’s expression softened.  “I understand, Your Majesty, but you will do no one – your sister or your citizens -  any good if you push yourself to the point of collapse.  Please.  At least go have something to eat and try to take a nap.”  He pushed past her to lean over Anna.  “Besides, I need to examine the Princess, and I can’t do that with you and the Ice Master underfoot!”

Elsa rolled her eyes at his peevishness.  She turned to Kristoff, who was dozing in his chair, his head crooked at an angle that made her wince.  He would have a stiff neck for sure.  She shook his shoulder and he started, looking up at her with hazy eyes that quickly cleared when he remembered where he was.

“Anna..is she…?”

“Still unconscious,” Elsa said hoarsely.  “The doctor needs to examine her…”

“…and he wants us out of the way.”  Kristoff stood, rubbing his neck with a grimace.  He cast a critical eye over Elsa.  “You need some rest.  And some food.”  He put his hand on her back and steered her toward the door.

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “Kristoff - ”

“I mean it, Elsa.  You’re still the Queen, and you can’t put your own health at risk.” 

“But Anna…I should be here…”  Elsa closed her eyes as swayed on her feet.  Kristoff caught her arm and steadied her.

“Yes, Anna needs you.  I need you.”  He touched her cheek.  “But it’s more than just us.”

 _Dammit, he fights dirty_.    

Kristoff guided her upstairs toward her suite of rooms.  “I’m going to check on Jørgen and then I’ll go back and sit with her when the doctor is done looking at her.  I promise I’ll send for you if anything changes.”

“But - ”

“Elsa, please.  You’re about to fall over already.”  Kristoff opened the door to her suite and followed her in, standing with his arms crossed and expression stern until she had changed into a nightgown and climbed into bed.  He kissed her forehead and left, promising again to send word if anything changed with Anna. 

Elsa lay in bed and stared at the ceiling.  Sleep, when it finally came, was brief and troubled, filled with images of an icy Anna on the frozen fjord.


End file.
